Shade SilverwingEXE
by Rock Raider
Summary: Set after Firewing. Where Shade's old life ends, his new life begins. With new friends & new enemies, Shade must save the world from an old enemy that threatened it before. A SilverwingxMega Man Battle Network crossover.
1. The theft

Disclaimer:I never liked how Shade died in Firewing. The main character's death is not good. I'm a big fan of the Mega Man Battle Network series, so I figured this was the best way to try resurrect him. Shade his colony belong to Kenneth Oppel the net navis (minus the navis that you don't recognize) all belong to Capcom.

All I own is this story.

**Silverwing.EXE.**

By:Rock Raider.

The last thing the bat remembered was falling accepting his doom. He believed it was worth it, though. He died so his son could live, that was all that mattered to him. He passed through the tree, so he knew his body was safe from that giant bat, Coma Zotz. However, then, the place around him became weird. Numbers, commas, other miscellaneous keyboard symbols started passing by him. The lines of writing the bat didn't know of began flowing past him like water. What are they? How did they get into his resting place? Just then, bats in the distance began flying to the entrance of Nocturna's realm.

"Hey, who are you?" 1 of them shouted. "What are you supposed to be?"

What were the bats staring at? Did it have some sort of link to the strange lines bypassing the bat's corpse? Just then, a green being walked up to the dead bat. It looked like a human's body, but it was hard to tell because its whole body is covered in some strange green armor. It looked down at the bat corpse.

"This must be what the professor wanted." The being said. "I'd better get it back to Scilab in Netopia."

Netopia? What kind of place calls itself a ridiculous name like Netopia? Perhaps it's a human city. In the years in the bat's life, it saw what humans had done. But the humans were evil, he knew that well. The being picked up the bat's body where several bats flew in to try to stop it, but it created a wall between itself the bats.

"Sorry, but I can't allow you to stop me." The bat said.

"We won't let you take Shade, whatever you are!" a bat said.

Take Shade? Was that bat just kidding? It was going to take Shade? What kind of idea possessed the being to do such a thing? It didn't matter now, the bat was dead, so it couldn't do a thing to stop the being. But just what did it want with a dead bat anyway? The wall poured into 2 walls created a path. Just how could this being possess this kind of power? The being carried Shade out through the path walked through the Underworld up to a hole that had a giant hand holding a bright light over it. The being floated up to the light carrying Shade with it. The giant hand then pulled up to allow the being to escape the world.

"I have the bat, Dr. Opelle." The being said to a human Dr. Opelle? That sounded like a human name? Could a human be controlling the being that took Shade? Reasonable. The human kneeled over revealed it had a big bushy gray mustache hair of the same colour. It smiled.

"Excellent, put it in the specimen chamber let's take it back to Scilab." The human, apparently Dr. Opelle said. Dr. Opelle brung out a small tube the being carelessly dunked Shade inside.

"Hey, be careful." Dr. Opelle said in a slightly harsher tone. "We need this bat for the experiment." Need this bat? What could he be used for? Shade was dead, so he couldn't be of much use to them now. "Our experiment's a dud without it." The doctor said. "It's the only bat corpse around."

"Oh, sorry." The being said. A disk sealed over the tube, sealing Shade inside. Dr. Opelle then stuffed the tube inside a truck sealed. What could they be doing? Dr. Opelle climbed into the front seat turned the key in the ignition.

"Back to Netopia." Dr. Opelle said as the car revved up started moving. If Shade were alive, he'd start moving, try to break free, but he couldn't. What was the human doing? It didn't matter, all he could do now was lie in that tube while the truck rumbled through the forest.

"It's my fault."

It had only been a day since Shade died, his son felt like the whole colony was mad at him. His father, Shade Silvering, was dead, to save him. Shade was a hero to everybody in the forest. He gave the sun back to bats brought peace with them the owls. he died for a single bat.

"Dad, I miss you." The small bat said. "It's my fault you're dead. If I could, I'd turn back the sands of time, die instead of you." The small bat looked around saw several young bats like him, with both their parents. Elders with sons, other things like that. That bat only had his mother to look after him now. He felt ashamed over his father's death.

"Thinking about your father again, huh?"

The bat turns around saw a bright-furred adult female bat roost next to him. He turned around hung his head.

"Mom, I'm surprised you're still speaking to me." The bat said. "I don't deserve it." His mother placed both wings on his shoulder.

"C'mon, Griffin." The female said. "You're father did what any father would do."

"I just wanna fall from Tree Haven for what happened to dad." Griffin said. His mom sighed, she then wrapped her wing around Griffin pulled him in close.

"I know it's tough, I miss your father too." She said. "But he didn't die in vain." Griffin, wracked with guilt sadness from missing his father, buried his head in his mother's fur.

"MOM!" the small bat shouted. His mom, tearing up a bit herself from missing her mate, held her son close to her. She then looked up at the sky. It didn't matter to her that Shade was a runt, she loved him with all her heart, now he's gone.

"Shade." She said to the sky. "I miss you."


	2. Experiment is now underway

Where was he taking him? What was this Netopia? Where was this Scilab thing? Since he was dead, he'd have to wait, since all would become clear to him shortly. Soon enough, the truck stopped. Dr. Opelle opened up the back of the truck pulled out the vial containing Shade's body.

"Now to get inside." Dr. Opelle said. Looks like Scilab wouldn't be much of a mystery soon, he was going inside. Dr. Opelle walked down a long hallway into a reception room. The lady there greeted him politely.

"Good morning, Dr. Opelle." She said. "You are aware that it's 1 AM, right?"

"Yes, more than enough time to do the experiment. Dr. Opelle said. Experiment? What was he gonna do with Shade's body? Did he even know what HALF of the machines in the room they were in do? Dr. Opelle walked over to a small bat-sized chair on a table. He opened up the lid pulled Shade out with tweezers. He then looked at him with a smile.

"Bat, fate has weaved an interesting web for you." Dr. Opelle said. Really? What was this man gonna do? He sounded friendly enough, but it was probably a ruse to hide his true intentions. After what humans did to him back in Goth's jungle involving the exploding discs, he hadn't trusted them since. Dr. Opelle placed the bat in the chair the tube of glass sealed around his body. Dr. Opelle then went over to a computer typed in a code.

"Okay, phase 1 complete." Dr. Opelle said. "Moving on to phase 2." Phase 2? How many phases are there in this thing? What was the human gonna do to Shade? If Shade were alive, he'd ask the human, but he can't speak the language that the humans do. Dr. Opelle walked over to a monitor next to Shade's chair where 3 beings, an orange being, a red being, a pink being, were. The beings looked exactly like the being that took Shade.

"You guys ready?" Dr. Opelle asked them.

"Yes, Doc." The red being said.

"We eagerly await the bat." The pink net navi said. Await the bat? Could they mean Shade? It had to be, he was the only bat there.

"Good." Dr. Opelle said, he typed a long code on the keyboard below the monitor. "Opening teeeeeeaaaaaaarrrrrr." Dr. Opelle pressed a button on the keyboard. "Now." A door below Shade's feet opened. If he were alive, Shade would try to escape, but he was dead, so all he could do was let the door have a blue portal open below him. A red hand then reached through the portal grabbed Shade's foot.

"I got him." A voice said. The hand then tugged Shade's foot pulled him into the portal. Shade would fight it, but it was not gonna happen now that he was dead. The 3 beings picked up Shade carried his body over to a table, they set his body down on it surrounded him.

"Bringing his body through that tear already turned it into data." The red net navi said. "Net navis, we can rebuild him. We have the technology to recreate this bat into a new powerful net navi, better than he was before." Better than he was before? Were they going to change Shade in some way? Make him this "net navi" thing they said? Already they dispersed from the table go off, leaving Shade's corpse there. "Okay, we'll need these to reshape his body." The red net navi said. Reshape Shade's body? Why would he do that? Wasn't Shade fine just the way he was now? The red net navi pulled out knives, poles, etc walked over to the table. The orange net navi came over with a pair of electrode spikes.

"We'll need these to generate a pulse." He said. Pulse? What's a pulse? Well, Shade was not alive to ask, so they wouldn't say a thing. The pink net navi walked up to them with an IV unit.

"We can use this IV unit to see if his pulse stays after we generate it." He said, patting the device on the side.

"Well, let's get to work." The red net navi said. The net navis hunched over Shade started working. Dr. Opelle closed the tear smiled.

"There, he'll be done in an hour." He said.

Back in Tree Haven, Griffin another female bat his age started feeling strange. Apparently, what they didn't know, was that Shade's life was fleeing them, because of what was happening to his body. However, Shade's life was not afraid of that. He left imprints of his life inside the 2. Immediately his life was torn from the 2 young bats rocketed off towards Netopia.

"Woah!" Shade shouted, rocketing towards Netopia. "Where am I going?" Shade could see Netopia in the distance realization hit him. "Hey, that's the city I met Zephyr in." He said.


	3. The resurrection

Meanwhile, the redesigning of Shade's body was complete. Instead of the charred silverwing bat that lay there, everything but his head was redesigned. He now had black pants & arms with bat's feet for… feet. His wings were on his back & he had blue gloves & a blue torso with a bat symbol on his chest.

(A/N:His head looks like it did in the silverwing cartoon, go to Google & type in "silverwing" then select the site on the top to see it.)

"Alright, we redesigned the body & mended the damage done to it, now to download the programs necessary to have him operate properly onto him." The red net navi said. The orange net navi looked over at him.

"Just name them & I'll get 'em." He said. The red net navi handed the orange net navi a list & he teleported off to get the programs on the list. The red net navi looked over Shade & looked down at him.

"Soon, kid." He said calmly. "You'll be in for an interesting new life. Even though you probably wanted to die, I bet dollars to doughnuts that a whole handful of bats miss you." He was right, & Shade knew it well. He was sure his family & friends missed him greatly. His mate, Marina, his son, Griffin, his mom & dad, Ariel & Cassiel, & his brother, Chinook. They all probably missed him greatly. "Well, they'll be overjoyed to see you alive & kicking." He said. "Just hope you don't do anything stupid like you did in the place we found ya, heh heh heh heh heh." He was right. The colony missed him & would be happy to find out he was alive. But how would they react to how much he changed, physically. The orange net navi teleported back into the room & held out several cubes.

"Here's the programs you asked for." He said. The red net navi turned around to see the orange net navi.

"Excellent." He said. He turned to the screen where Dr. Opelle was.

"That's your cue, Doc." He said.

"Yes, I'll download those programs right away." Dr. Opelle replied. Programs? What programs were Dr. Opelle gonna put in Shade? What will they do to his body? However, Shade was gonna have to make use of the programs. Dr. Opelle started typing away on the keyboard & the programs are drawn into Shade's body. If Shade could feel them, he'd be tickled. That was how they felt entering him.

"This shouldn't take too long." The red net navi said, looking at Shade. "He'll be done shortly." Done shortly. That's what the net navi said. What would be done shortly? His recreation? Yet to be seen. Meanwhile, Shade's life was now racing through the streets of Netopia.

"Hey, where am I going?" Shade asked himself. He rocketed into an alleyway & zipped up into a window. He darted through a kitchen & bolted through a door. Where was he headed?

"Ok, he's complete." The red net navi said. The 3 net navis were huddled over Shade. The pink net navi inserted the electrode spikes into his chest, underneath his symbol.

"Time to wake him up." He said. The net navis moved away from Shade, the electrode spikes seemed like a very strange way to wake a person up, to Shade anyway. Dr. Opelle typed in another long code.

"Initiating final phase now." He said. The final phase? What could it involve? If Shade were alive, he wouldn't stand for what was done to his body, or anything that happened to him. The net navis stood back & watched as electricity surged through Shade's body. If Shade were alive, he would be in a lot of pain right now. Shade's life was drawn to the electricity surge, so it bolted into Scilab, rocketed into the computer, & plunged into Shade's body. Shade then began to convulse. Dr. Opelle saw this & shut off the spikes. The net navis all looked at Shade. Did it work? Did they bring him back to life? Or will they have to scrap the experiment & find another corpse. After a few tense moments, Shade stirred & moaned.

"He's coming around." The orange net navi said. It worked. IT WORKED! They might not have known it, but the bat they resurrected, was the hero of the forest outside of Netopia. Shade Silverwing. The red net navi turned to the orange & pink net navis.

"Inform the others." The orange net navi said. "He's awake." Others? There were more "net navis" in the area? How many exactly? Looks like he would find out soon, since they were coming soon. Shade stirred & his eyes shifted open.


	4. Shade wakes

"Mmm…" Shade moaned. "Huh?" .His eyes were barely in focus as he only saw a blur. Where was he? How did he get there? Who's voice is that? Shade tried to get up, but felt a hand push him back down onto the table.

"Don't get up so soon." The red net navi said. "We have to make sure you're functioning properly." Functioning properly? What did he mean by that? Was something wrong with him? Were they gonna hurt him? What? The net navi removed the electrode spikes from Shade's chest & sealed the wounds. Shade did feel pain, so it didn't surprise him that much. He felt the cold table he was on, & squinted at the light that was shining down at him. So much so, that he covered his eyes with his hand. He wanted to ask where he was, but he was too busy shielding his eyes from the bright light. The net navi inserted a wire from the IV unit into Shade's hand, causing Shade to squirm from the pain. "I know it hurts." The red net navi said. "But this'll help us check to see if you're functioning properly. The results will be displayed on this IV unit, which will let us know how healthy you are." They were that concerned for him? Using human methods to check how healthy he was? These net navi things certainly were friendly, but what about that net navi that took him from his grave? He looked over at the unit & saw a zigzagging line on a black square. The red net navi appeared to be happy. "Good." He said. "Everything seems to be working properly. I'd say you're healthy as a horse virus." Horse virus? What's a horse virus? It sounded like a disease. But the red net navi seemed to describe it as an animal.

"What's a horse virus?" Shade asked.

"You'll find out in due time, my friend." The red net navi said. His friend? Shade barely knew him & already they were friends? Maybe he was just saying that. Just then, several other net navis, along with the orange & pink net navis, poured into the room. Shade sat up, then realized what his hand looked like. He looked down at his new body & got a little frightened.

"W-what happened to me?" Shade asked in distress.

"Calm down, we'll explain everything to you." The red net navi said, holding his hands up as if to defend himself. Shade angrily grabbed the net navi by his neck & made eye contact with him, freaking him out a little.

"You'd better!" Shade shouted.

"Talk to the others." The net navi said. "They may know something." Shade grudgingly got up from the table & looked around the room he was in. He saw several other net navis in miscellaneous places throughout the room. He counted about 10, including the red net navi next to him that he let go of.

"Well, if I want answers, I'd better ask around." Shade said to himself. He looked & saw he didn't have to fly, that all the net navis are in walking distance. It seemed a lot easier than having to fly several wingbeats. He simply walked up to an orange net navi like the net navi that played a part in his resurrection, except the lower half of his head was human. It looks over at him & smiled.

"Hi." The net navi said. "I'm pleased to meet you." Shade was confused. The being appears to be speaking the humans wired language, & he understood every word of it.

":I-I understand you." Shade said, bewildered.

"Of course you can." The net navi said. "We installed a translator into you while we were fixing your body up." Shade cocked his head over to 1 side. This word was completely new & foreign to him. It was like a completely new word to him.

"Trans-la-tor?" Shade asked, sounding the word out. The net navi looked at Shade for a while, then started laughing upon realizing what Shade meant.

"Ha ha!" The orange net navi said. "Oh, I get it now. You don't speak my language. Okay, a translator is a human machine or program that allows humans to understand what animals are saying & vice-versa." Shade slowly nods in understanding, satisfied at learning this new word.

"Okay." He said. "That sounds useful." Shade nodded his head in understanding. The translator sure sounded interesting. The thought of being able to understand a human's words as if they were an animal's would surely bridge a gap between humans & birds & beasts. However, why would they want to talk to birds & beasts? The acts of the humans sure can be weird & hard to interpret, like how they banded the bats.

"You bet it is." The orange net navi suggested. "Why not talk to the other the other net navis. They have more to say than me."

"Okay." Shade said, he looked around the area. There certainly were a LOT of these net navi things around. He walked up to a green net navi.

"I'm a net navi." He said. Shade scoffed, feeling kind of insulted at being told something he already knew.

"Yeah, I kinda got that." Shade said.

"Well, anyway." The net navi said. "As a net navi, I work here on the net." Shade looked around the ceiling-less & wall-less room he was in.

"Is this the Cyberworld?" He asked.

"Just 1 area in it." The green net navi said. "The Cyberworld is a big place. Like the real world." Shade's eyes went wide at that. Could the Cyberworld really be that expansive? All Shade could see was the square floor. The only way he could be sure those words could be true would be to look around. He walked over to an orange net navi that looks exactly like the orange net navi he talked to earlier. He walked up to it, it looked at him & smiles.

"Hi." The orange net navi said.

"Why do you look like that guy over there?" Shade asked, pointing to the last orange net navi he talked to. The orange net navi he was talking to at that time laughed a bit.

"Well, I'm an older model net navi." The net navi said. "Us older models all look alike." Shade looks confused. The older models were probably unoriginal, since they were so identical. Shade walked over to a purple net navi with shoulder pads, indicating importance. He got the net navi's attention as it looked at him. Something about the net navi's stare made Shade feel uneasy. Maybe it was the shoulder pads, or maybe it was how close he was to Shade. Either way, the net navi was making Shade feel uncomfortable. The net navi put a fist up to its mouth area & cleared its throat, or at least sounded like it was.

"Greetings, Shade." The net navi said in a deep male voice. Shade nearly jumped high up. The net navi knew his name, HE knew HIS name. Despite how the 2 have never met before, the net navi knew his name. Shade stood in front of the net navi wide-eyed.

"H-how do you know my name?" Shade stammered in shock. The net navi put its hand up & extended its index finger upwards. It then curled & uncurled the finger repeatedly as if to say "come here".

"Come with me, Shade." The net navi said. "I'll explain everything."


	5. Training Shade, Step 1

The net navi turned around & started walking. Shade said nothing & followed close behind, wondering what the net navi was about to show him. He shuddered at the thought. What could the net navi want to show him? Shade followed the net navi down a long wall-less hall. They came to a series of horizontal lines, they disintegratd upon being approached. Shade walked through the spot where the door was & saw it reintegrate after he walked through it. After a while of following the net navi down several hallways, they came to another room with several screens surrounding the pair.

"Where are we?" Shade asked, curious. The net navi turned around & faced Shade. Something about his stare made Shade feel uncomfortable. Maybe it was the fact that Shade couldn't see his face, so he didn't know what to expect the net navi to do. Just then, with a wave of his hand, all the screens disappeared.

"But first, we have to train you for the outside cyberworld." The net navi said. Shade stood there confused, unsure of how to respond. The net navi put its hands up & opened his hands towards Shade. Just then, a row of 3 panels appeared in front of him. Followed by another row of 3, & another, making a large square of gray panels with a blue outlining. Shade was frightened by this, not knowing how to respond. He wanted to run from the appearing squares, but he knew that the net navi only wanted to train him for his new life. As more squares in rows of 3 appeared, Shade noticed a difference in them. The outlining is now red. Perhaps it was to mark his & his opponent's territory. Another row appeared where he was standing & he saw he was in the middle square. As the final row appeared, the net navi put his hands down & the squares stopped appearing. Shade looks down at his feet & sees that he's in the combat area. Just then, the entire combat area was lifted off the floor. Shade was surprised & scared at this. He wanted to fly off & escape, but remembered why he was up there. He decided to let the panels levitate him above the floor. He stood up & stayed still in the combat area. Just then, a dark blue mask with a light blue line going up from the bottom & stopping at the middle covered Shade's lower face.

"AAHH!" Shade shouted in fear. He grabbed the mask & tried to yank it off, but to no avail. "GET IT OFF!" He shouted. "GET IT OFF MY FACE!" Just then, the net navi floated up to the battle area on a panel separate from the combat area.

"Don't worry, Shade." The net navi said. "That won't hurt you." Shade stopped yanking the mask & looked at the net navi, confused.

"Huh?" Shade asked.

"That's a combat mask." The net navi explained. "All net navis have them. They protect your face." Shade looked at the net navi, then looked down at the mask on his lower face. He placed his hands on it & felt it. It felt hard, but unlike any other hard he ever felt before, even rock. Shade looked back at the net navi.

"Does it really work?" He asked.

"You bet." The net navi said. "Helped me out a few times. Now, on with the combat training." The net navi put a hand up & a beam shot toward the blue middle square of the battle area. It hit the middle square & took shape. Shade looked at it confused, his opponent was a small black orb with eyes. He had some yellow feet, & a yellow helmet with a black line & a green plus sign on it. Shade looked at the net navi confused & kinda miffed.

"Do you have any faith in my combat abilities?" Shade asked.

"Don't be mad, Shade." The net navi said. "Every net navi trains with these guys, to start them out." Shade sagged his shoulders.

"Fine, so what do I do?" Shade asked. The net navi pointed at Shade.

"First, I'll start with the basics." He said. "You know, common knowledge that everybody needs."

"Alright." Shade said.

"First off, you might notice numbers above the virus' head." The net navi said. Shade looked down at the virus & saw a 40 above his head. An arrow pointed at the 40. "That's the virus' hit points." The net navi said. "To delete it you must widdle them down to 0." Shade looked at the net navi like he'd grown another head. Obviously the net navi was speaking in a way that Shade had never heard before.

"Huh?" Shade asked, confused. "Virus? Delete? Hit points?" The net navi closed its eyes & shook his head.

"The thing in front of you is a virus, there are a lot of different types of viruses." The net navi said. "You'll meet more as you go on. This is the most common virus, a Mettaur. Deleting it is the net's way of killing it. It's hit point act as its health." Shade nodded his head in understanding.

"Uh huh." He simply said.

"Okay." The net navi said. "Now anyway, do attack it, you just gotta hit it. Normally your default weapon, the Shade Buster as we call it, works in this situation. Go ahead, try it out." Shade looked at the net navi, puzzled.

"How?" He asked.

"To do that, you have to put your right hand in a fist & clench it." The net navi said. Shade nodded his head. He then put his right hand up & clenched as tight as he could. Just then, he became frightened at what happened, his fist started glowing & took a new shape. It had become a cylinder with a little nub sticking out at the end with a small hole on it. Shade was frightened; his own hand was now a whole new thing.

"WOAH!" Shade shouted in amazement.

"I know it's a surprise, but you'll eventually get used to it." The net navi said. "Just aim your Shade Buster at the virus & squeeze on the inside to build up energy. Release to fire." Shade nodded. He stuck his buster up at the virus & started building up energy. He then noticed the virus doing something. It pulled out a pickaxe & slammed it into the ground, sending a snake-like shockwave at Shade. Shade reacted in time & leapt from its path. He decided to fire & did so. However, the recoil launched him back & he landed on his side. He stood up, still recovering & he looked at his new arm.

"What was that smack I felt?" He asked. The net navi paused the virus and got Shade's attention.

"That was the recoil." The net navi said. "You have to get a good firm grip on the ground before you fire, otherwise that will happen." Shade looked at the net navi & nodded in understanding.

"Okay." Shade said.

"Anyway, nice work." The net navi said. "Doing a normal shot can subtract 1 hit point from a virus. You just did a charged shot, which subtracted 10 hit points from him." Shade looked at the virus' hit points & saw that the virus now only had 30 hit points.

"Also, it IS smart to dodge your opponent's attacks." The net navi said. "Otherwise he would've dealt some damage on your hit points."

"MY hit points?" Shade asked, pointing at himself.

"Yes." The net navi said. "Look above you." Shade looked up & saw a 100 above him. He smiled a little.

"Wow, I have a lot of hit points." Shade said, the net navi pointed a finger at him.

"Don't get cocky, Shade." He said. "Some attacks can deal more than 100 hit points. The hammer battle chip can do 200 hit points of damage, & the mine battle chip can do 300 hit points of damage." Shade looked at him in horror. 200 or 300 hit points of damage? That's certainly more than enough to delete him. Surely there was something to do to avoid that.

"Is there anything I can do to avoid taking damage from those things?" Shade asked the net navi.

"Uh huh." The net navi said. "You can either avoid them altogether. Or you can collect HP Memory." Shade looked at the net navi in confusion. HP Memory? What was that?

"HP Memory?" Shade asked. The net navi nodded his head & pulled out a small blue diamond.

"This stuff." He said. "It can raise your hit points by 20. There's a LOT of them & they're strewn throughout the net & real world." Shade nodded his head. If he could collect enough HP Memory, he could raise his hit points to an amazing level. But since they're strewn throughout the net, it'd take weeks to find them all. & since some are in the real world, he might never reach them.

"Anyway, Dr. Oppelle is ready with the battle chips, so we can move on." The net navi said. A screen appeared behind Shade. He turned around to see Dr. Opelle holding a dark blue hand-held computer with some chips.

"In my left hand is battle chips." Dr. Opelle said. "I insert them into the P.E.T. in my right hand to send them to you, so you can receive help in battle." Shade looked at the small chips & the hand-held computer. The human wanted to help him in battle? How would it do that? By downloading chips onto a small hand-held? Dr. Opelle took a chip & inserted it into the top of the hand-held. "Download!" He shouted. A small yellow picture of a sword appeared above Shade's head. He looked up at it in surprise.

"What is that?" Shade asked.

"That's a battle chip program." The net navi said. "Simply touch it with your hand." Shade reached up with his left hand, since his right was the Shade Buster. He touched it & his Shade Buster morphed again, he watched in awe as it shrunk a bit & grew a long glowing blade.

"Woah!" Shade said. He couldn't believe it, first his hand was a buster, now it's a sword. What was it gonna become next?

"That's a sword chip." The net navi said. Shade looks at the virus & saw that the net navi summoned another virus on the front row. "To reach the front virus, simply walk forward." The net navi explained. "You can only walk on the red panels, since it's your side of the field. The sword does more damage than a single shot, even a charged shot from the Shade Buster."

"Really?" Shade asked.

"Indeed." The net navi said. "Simply swipe the virus with the sword. Shade nodded. He stepped forward to the front row of his side of the field & swiped at the virus. He sliced it in half. However, to Shade's surprise, the virus exploded.

"What just happened?" Shade asked. He'd never seen an animal explode, aside from Goth when he blew up along with the metal disc in the rainforest.

"That's what happened to a virus when you whittle its HP down to 0, Shade." The net navi said. "Get used to it, cause that's how things work in the cyber world.

"I dunno whether to be shocked or amazed." Shade said. Indeed this was both amazing & frightening all at once to him.

"Glad you like it." The net navi said. "Now onto phase 2."


	6. Training Shade, Step 2

"Phase 2 ?" Shade asked.

"Yes." The net navi responded. He held up 3 fingers on his right hand. "There are 3 phases in total. This next phase will show you creative strategies you & the net-op can use with the battlechips."

"Really?" Shade asked, sounding interested.

"Yes, Shade." The net navi said. "Now, let's begin." Then, 2 viruses appeared at the top & bottom middle squares of the opponent side.

"Now Shade." The net navi said. "There are many different kinds of battle chips, as you may already know. Some attack the enemy, some heal the enemy, some shield you, others alter the battlefield. You can use these chips in any order with an effective strategy to win."

"I see." Shade said. The net navi turned to Dr. Opelle.

"Okay, doctor." The net navi said. "Download the Area Steal & Wide Sword."

"Right away." Dr. Opelle said. He inserted 2 battlechips into the P.E.T. & they appeared above Shade's head.

"Now Shade." The net navi said. "The Wide Sword only covers the area up & down, but it can't go forward."

"What?" Shade asked. He couldn't believe it. The Wide Sword sounded useless to him now. "Then what good is it to me if it can't reach the viruses?"

"That's where the Area Steal battlechip comes in." The net navi said. "It takes 1 row of squares on the opponent's side & makes it a part of your side for a limited time. You can use it to make the Wide Sword able to reach the viruses."

Make the sword able to reach the viruses? Shade felt much better now that he knew what to do in that sort of situation. "Really?" He asked.

"Yes." The net navi said. "Go ahead. Give it a try." Shade touched the area steal picture & everything went dark. Then, 3 lights shot up from the front panels. They hit the blue panels on the opponent's side's front, which in turn, turned red. Shade then touched the Wide Sword picture & his hand glowed & morphed into a sword with a blade wider than the other sword. He looked at it, then at the viruses. 1 of then moved so it was right in front of him. Shade walked towards him so he was on his new territory. The virus raised its pickaxe to send a shockwave towards Shade, but Shade swiped his sword & destroyed both viruses. He walked back to his own old territory. The net navi was clapping.

"Excellent work, Shade." The net navi said. "Now for phase 3."

Phase 3 at last. After this, Shade would finally learn what had happened to him & he could put his fears to rest.


	7. Training Shade, Step 3

Shade watched as the next Mettaur virus appeared.

"Alright Shade." The net navi said. "Time to learn about 1 last battle strategy. Discarding chips." Shade wondered what the net navi was talking about. He didn't see the point of discarding chips that could be useful, yet he remained docile & watched.

"Sometimes you get chips that would turn out to be useless in your current situation because of how random the pick is." The net navi explained. "That's where the discard function comes into play. With this, your Net Op can discard useless battle chips for later. Plus, you see the bog empty space under the battle chip slots?" The net navbi asked. Shade looked at a nearby screen that looked like the screen you see when selecting battle chips while in battle in the Mega Man Battle Network Series. An arrow pointed to the blank space underneath the chip slots.

"Yeah, I see it." Shade asked. "What's it for, sir?"

"When your Net Op discards a number of battle chips between 1 & 5, the number of discarded battle chips will be added to the number of slots. The highest you can get is 5 more than the 5 you currently have."

"Okay." Shade said, not fully understanding the net navi's words.

"Now." The net navi said. "Dr. Opelle, I suggest you get rid of the 3 HP-10 chips, you won't need them now." Shade wanted to make sure this wasn't a trick so the net navi would make sure he wasn't gonna have Shade be defenseless when he needed to heal.

"Are you sure?" Shade asked.

"Trust me." The net navi said to Shade. "You'll get better battle chips from doing this." Shade pondered for a bit. For all he knew, it was a trick, but he didn't see any other way of doing this. He hung his shoulders in defeat.

"Alright then." Shade said in defeat. He wahthed as Dr. Opelle selected the 3 HP-10 chips. Then he saw the button next to them that said "discard". Shade stared at this in amazement, after a while he figured that the humans probably programmed him to understand their words, since he knew what it said. Before, he wouldn't have been able to make heads or tails of the humans' strange language. Now, he knew every single word they said. Shade watched as Dr. Oppelle pushed the button. Then, the screen vanished.

"Alright, Shade." The net navi said. "You'll have to wait a while until the bar behind your side of the field fills up again." Shade looked at the back of the field & saw a black bar with an arrow pointing to it. "When that's all yellow, then you can use battle chips."

"Okay." Shade said. Shade turned back to face the Mettaur, realizing that he'd have to wait until the bar filled up before Dr. Opelle could download battle chips to him. So all he had against the virus for now was his Shade Buster. Shade then decided he'd have to make do. He fired 6 Shade Busters at the Mettaur, taking 6 hit points from it. Then he heard a ping behind him & saw the bar all yellow. Shade lit up under his face guard. He could use battle chips again! Dr. Opelle then pressed a button on the side of the P.E.T. on the screen & the screen reappeared again. Shade looked at it, & to his astonishment, 3 new slots appeared before him. The chips inside were shaped like green boxes on poles with a circle on the top left corner, & a mouth coming out of the right.

"You see those 3 new chips, Shade?" The net navi asked. "Those are cannon chips. Cannon chips are chips that attach a cannon to your arm, allowing you to fire a huge burst of power from it before it disappears. Got that?" Shade nodded. He looked at his arm. He'd seen it do 2 very strange things. He'd seen it fire beams from it, & watched it transform into a sword. He wondered what a cannon chip would do to it. Then again, Shade figured it was obvious. He watched as Dr. Opelle selected a cannon chip, & the ok button. Then, to Shade's amazement, his arm sprouted 4 green thin long things. Shade watched as green metal-like panels grew from the things. The then saw a mouth, like the mouth on his Shade Buster, only longer, sprout from his palm. Then he saw a cylandar unfold on the top back part of the cannon. He looked at in in awe. He never thought anything like that would happen. However, he soon remembered the virus. He saw it send a shockwave at him, & he dodged in the nick of time. He then fired the cannon at the virus, & was amazed that he saw it explode the instant the blast connected.

"WOAH!" He shouted. He looked at the cannon as it retracted back into his arm. "That was amazing."

"Wasn't it though, Shade." The net navi asked. "Well, that concludes your training Shade. Now I'll show you what you wanna know." The battlefield, & the single panel the net navi was on slowly returned to the ground, & vanished.

"Alright." Shade said as his mask vanished. "Now what did you do to me?"


	8. Terrible news for Shade

"I'm about to show you, Shade." The net navi said. He walked over to the edge of the floor, Shade followed him, curious about what he was about to find out, & somewhat dreading it. What did the humans want with him? & why? The net navis walked up to the edge & a huge screen appeared, startling Shade a bit.

"Woah!" Shade shouted.

"Surprised?" The net navi asked, souding like he was laughing, each laugh sounded to Shade like he was mocking him. Shade looked up at the screen & was surprised at what he saw. A huge picture of Shade was there, with multiple boxes surrounding him. Each box was full of words, & had a line coming from each box's side, touching different parts of Shade's picture's body. "These are the blueprints for project "nature navi"." Shade looked at the net navi, not understanding what he said.

"Nature navi?" Shade asked. The net navi looked at him.

"Nature navi is a project we here at SciLab have been working on for 6 years." The net navi explained. Shade was surprised by the net navi's last 2 words. 6 years. 6 years the humans spent on this project. The humans in this SciLab place sure were determined. He continued listening to the nat navi's words. "We wanted to try & see if we could make a net navi that acted more natural than normal net navis, & thus, be more interactable with its net op. Dr. Hikari over in Japan made a successful breakthrough in this research by getting human DNA from his deceased son, Hub Hikari, & fused it with a net navi, thus resurrecting his son. We tried to expand on Dr. Hikari's work." The net navi pointed at Shade. "& you're the end result, Shade." Shade was surprised to hear this. He was the end result of a project that took the humans 6 years of research & experimenting to complete. He was amazed that so much of a fuss was made over him alone. Then a thought occured to Shade. He turned to the net navi & asked.

"Umm, what does a net navi do exactly?" Shade asked.

"A net navi is basically a little electronic personal assistant." The net navi said. "They basically keep a human's calender, schedule, & E-mail in check. & before you ask, Shade, a calender is something humans use to know what day it is, a schedule is a list of things certain humans have to do, & when to do them, & E-mail is a way for humans to communicate with each other." However, he lost Shade at the words "personal assistant". Shade felt enraged & betrayed. The humans only brought him back so he could work for them. He felt fully convinced now, humans are evil. He didn't want to work for humans. But now he had no choice. "& you know all the training you went through earlier? That was for net battles." Shade put his anger aside & looked over at the net navi.

"Net battles?" He asked, a hint of anger in his voice.

"Sometimes net navis will be pitted against each other by their net ops, & each net op will use battle chips to help their net navi win. They're actually quite fun." Shade was once again lost in rage. First he was forced to work as a human's assistant, now he would be forced into fights with other net navis for the humans' pleasure, could the humans get any more cruel to him?

"Now it may take you some time to get used to your new life, but you'll eventually come to accept it." The net navi said. He then looked behind Shade to a screen with Dr. Opelle on it. "Alright, Opelle." The net navi said. "you can jack Shade out now."

"Alright." Dr. Opelle said. He pushed a button on the P.E.T. & Shade turned into a small pillar that said "LOGOUT"going down.

"Shade Silverwing, logging out." a dull male voice said. Shade then reappeared inside the P.E.T. in Dr. Opelle's hands, & Dr. Openne walked out the door.


	9. Haunting Nightmares

Griffin was flying up through Coma Zotz' underworld, scared. He didn't want the giant bat to get him, but it was far too fast for him to escape. He knew it was futile to try & escape, he was just a newborn, & his pursuor was the bat god Coma Zotz, so what hope DID he have of escape?

"Help me." He said weakly. He heard Coma Zotz laugh a laugh that sent shivers up the newborn's spine. He wanted to escape, but he couldn't, Zotz was too fast for him.

"Nobody can help you, newborn." Zotz said. "You're too weak & unimportant for anybody to care about your safety."

"Not likely." came a voice that startled Griffin. He looked to his left & saw a bat whom he knew would help him. He saw Shade, Shade Silverwing, his father, coming to his aid. He flew alongside his father, his hope of escape greatly improving. He saw the light of escape dead ahead, & when he turned around, he saw Coma Zotz starting to lag behind. He kept flying & flying until finally he reached the exit to Zotz' world. He broke through the barrier & made it out into the forest.

"We made it, dad!" Griffin shouted. However, something startled Griffin. Where was his father? He looked around, but couldn't see him anywhere. Where was he? Griffin started to get nervous.

"Dad?" He called. "Dad, where are you?"

"I was never here, Griffin." Shade's voice called, sounding like it was coming from all directions. "You let me die, remember?" The horrible truth rushed back into Griffin's head like a bullet. He remembered that Shade had died to save Griffin's life, & that Griffin would never see him again. Tears began to well up in Griffin's eyes, when he heard something. He looked back down to the portal leading to Zotz' underworld & what he saw horrified him. A giant fiery hand shot out of Zotz' world & grabbed him, he could feel the searing heat of the hand as it pulled him down. Griffin was horrified, he was going back into Zotz' world, the world that took his father from him, & was going to claim him in a matter of seconds. He tried to escape, but the hand was too strong for him.

"HELP ME!" Griffin screamed. "HELP ME!"

Griffin then shot awake. He was not in Zotz' world, nor was he headed there. He was back in Tree Haven, the place he grew up in, & the place close to where he knew his father had died. He knew this was reality, & that he had no hope of ever seeing Shade again. Tears once again filled his eyes, & this time he knew they were real, & he felt he deserved them considering what happened to his father. He let them fall a bit, sniffling a little.

"Dad." He quietly said to himself. "Please forgive me."


	10. New home

Dr. Opelle drove down the night street of Netopia, the street lamps illuminating the inside of the car every so often. Shade however, just grumbled in the P.E.T. he was in. He was furious, how could the humans do that to him? They brought him back for the sole purpose of making him work for them. There was nowhere for him to escape either, so he was pretty much stuck this way. All he could do was sit around in the P.E.T. & wait for the Dr. to put him with his net op.

"How much longer until we reach my master?" Shade asked, sounding like his teeth were gritted. Dr. Opelle looked down at his side pocket.

"Not much longer now." He said in a kind tone. Shade didn't like his tone of voice. Why was he talking like that? He practically made Shade into a slave to humans, & he was acting like he wanted to be friends with him. Shade didn't want any part of that matter, all he wanted was to be dead again. Dead, like he should've been, before the humans turned him into a servant. "Well, we're here, Shade." Dr. Opelle said. He stopped the car & pushed the door open. Shade heard the click, & the slam as Dr. Opelle closed the car door behind him. "We're at my home now, Shade." Dr. Opelle said. "I can't wait until my son sees you. He turned 11 human years old last week. He's officially old enough for his very own net navi."

"& let me guess." Shade said. "I'm his net navi?"

"Precisely right." Dr. Opelle responded to the bat turned net navi in his pocket. "I know this has come as a really big shock to you, but once you get over it, I'm sure you'll come to accept him as a friend." Shade felt really mad. Friends with a human? Why would Shade want to befriend a human? He absolutely hated them after he found out what they did to countless bats in the southern jungle, tying bombs to them, sending them to a horrid fate. He would never forgive the humans for that. So what made Dr. Opelle think Shade would wanna be friends with his son? He just sat in the P.E.T. grumbling as Dr. Opelle walked up the path leading to his house. Dr. Opelle opened the door & walked inside his house. He walked through the house & up the stairs, then down a hallway to the left. He quietly opened a door & sneaked inside.

"Why are you sneaking?" Shade asked. Dr. Opelle felt a chill go up his spine, then looked down at Shade, putting a finger to his lips.

"Sssssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." He shushed. "You'll wake him." He whispered. Shade was confused.

"Who will I wake?" Shade asked, very silently.

"My son." Dr. Opelle whispered back. He pulled Shade out of his pocket & then pointed to a silhouette in the back right corner of where they were. Shade couldn't quite make it out, & he figured sound couldn't penetrate to the real world from the cyber world. "That's him." He whispered. "Once he wakes up, I know he'll wanna be friends with you." Shade hmphed in his head, he found that very hard to believe. Why would a human want to have him as a friend? He was gonna be the kid's slave for as long as he functioned. Dr. Opelle snuck over to a computer near the kid & plugged Shade into a cord connected to the computer. "There you go, Shade." He whispered. He then pulled the front off the P.E.T. & revealed buttons under the front. "Now I'll just initiate sleep mode, & you'll be put to sleep." He said. He pushed a black button on the front & instantly, Shade's world went black. Dr. Opelle looked at the sleeping net navi & smiled. "Goodnight, Shade." He said, then he walked out the door & closed it silently.


	11. Kenny Opelle, Shade's Netop

The sun shined in through the window like a blinding light. It made its way over to the kid sleeping in the bed & woke him up. The kid was wearing blue pajamas. He had black curly hair & blue eyes. He rubbed his eyes to get the excess sunlight out of them & looked over at his desk. To his delight, there was a P.E.T. there, just beckoning to him. He smiled at this.

"Wow." He said. "My own P.E.T.." He got out of bet & walked over to the P.E.T.. He flipped the cover off to reveal the second cover with the control panel on it. He deactivated sleep mode & woke up Shade.

"Huh? Wha?" Shade asked as he woke up. It felt kina abrupt to him. He was sleeping just a few seconds ago, & was wakened in an instant. He was then staring his net op in the face. A face Shade didn't like at all. To him, that smile meant the kid was happy to have a virtual servant, somebody to do things for him. Shade didn't want that kind of life.

"Hi, I'm Kenny." The kid said. "What's your name?"

"I'm Shade Silverwing." Shade said. "& I'm not about to become your virtual slave!" Kenny was taken aback by this. He was just trying to be Shade's friend, but Shade wasn't giving him a chance to.

"Your what?" Kenny asked. "What do you mean?"

"You heard me, Kenny!" Shade said, spitting out Kenny's name. "I was just decaying down in Nocturna's realm when YOUR father came & stole me! Then he mulched up my body into this, & expected me to work for his son! I REFUSE to be your electronic servant!"

"But I don't want you to be my slave, Shade." Kenny said.

"Then your father should've left me back in Nocturna's realm." Shade remarked.

"That wasn't my father's intention, either." Kenny said. Shade just crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"& why should I believe that?" Shade asked.

"Because my dad's a nice person." Kenny said.

"Nice to you maybe." Shade said. "But I know you humans are all alike."

"What's that mean, Shade?" Kenny asked.

"Don't kid me, kid." Shade spat. "I saw what your kind did to all those bats. First you kill hundreds of bats, then you expect me to be your slave?" Kenny was shocked by Shade's words.

"Kill hundreds of bats?" He asked.

"That's right." He said. "Your kind killed hundreds of bats, severely wounded others, & left them stranded somewhere far away to die. If it wasn't for me & my colony, they would've been killed."

"That's horrible!" Kenny said.

"I'm surprised you feel that way." Shade said. "But it doesn't change the fact that I won't work for you."

"I don't want you to, Shade." Kenny said. "I just wanna be your friend."

"Prove it." Shade said.

"Okay." Kenny said. "Spend 1 day with me, & you'll see how nice a guy I am."

"Hmph." Shade said. "Alright. But no tricks, you got that?"

"Got it." Kenny said. "I'll just get dressed." He said, then went into his closet. After a while, he came out wearing a black leather jacket over a white shirt, & blue short with white shoes on his feet. He then walked up to Shade & unplugged him from the recharger. He then put him in his pocket & walked out the door.


	12. At the breakfast table

Kenny walked down the halls to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, rinsed, spat, & then walked down the stairs to the ground. He turned left & walked into the kitchen where Dr. Opelle, a woman with blonde hair, blue shoes, blue skirt, & a black shirt, & a little girl with red & white shoes, a white shirt with red sleeves, purple shorts, & long blonde hair, all sat at a table, eating breakfast. The woman turned to see Kenny & smiled.

"Morning, dear." She said.

"Morning, mom." Kenny replied. He sat down at the table & poured some cereal. He poured some milk on it, picked up his spoon, & started eating it. Dr. Opelle looked down at him.

"Hey, sport." Dr. Opelle said. "So, how's the navi?" Kenny looked up at his father.

"Well, he seems like he doesn't want to be a net navi." Kenny said. Dr. Opelle became confused.

"He doesn't?" He asked.

"Abolutely not!" Shade said. Everybody turned to Kenny, who pulled Shade from his pocket. He showed Shade to everybody, & Shade looked pretty mad. "I didn't want to be this boy's slave! But his FATHER had to pull me from the ground & turn me into this! Now I have to be his servant for the rest of my unnatural life thanks to him!" Everybody felt taken aback by this. Dr. Opelle in particular.

"But Shade." Dr. Opelle replied. "That wasn't my intention."

"Why should I believe that?" Shade asked. "I've seen what you humans have done to bats, & it's proven to me that they're evil!" Everybody except Kenny was shocked by Shade's outburst.

"Humans?" Dr. Opelle asked, shocked. "Evil? Why would you say such a thing, Shade?"

"Because it's the truth!" Shade shouted. "I know what your kind's done to us, it's unforgivable!"

"Shade, I can assure you, not all humans are evil." Dr. Opelle said.

"Don't lie to me!" Shade yelled.

"I'm not." Dr. Opelle said.

"You are!" Shade yelled. "You band us for no reason, & you send us far away from our home to kill us! That's disgraceful!" Everybody was very shocked by this.

"We what?" Dr. Opelle asked. "That's horrid!" Shade looked at him.

"I'm surprised you feel that way." Shade remarked. Why wouldn't he be? After all, Shade saw the humans take a bunch of bats from the north & fly them to the jungle to blow them up. "I figured you would've been happy to hear so many bats die."

"But, I like bats." Dr. Opelle said.

"Oh, really?" Shade asked. "Just how DO you like bats?" Dr. Opelle stared for a while.

"Live, obviously." Dr. Opelle responded.

"Well, if you liked bats live, you would've done something ELSE to me rather than this." Shade said.

"Well, this WAS the best I could do." Dr. Opelle said. "We humans aren't smart enough to bring the original creatures back live & intact. We've still got a long way to go before we DO get that far."

"Then you should've waited 'till you DID get that far BEFORE you did this to me." Shade said.

"I'm sorry if you feel that way, Shade." Dr. Opelle said.

"You have no idea what I'm feeling right now, Opelle." Shade said coldly. "I'm far away from my family, unable to see them, trapped in another world, & worst of all, forced to be a slave for your child."

"Shade, I already told you, I don't want you as a slave. I want you as a friend." Kenny said. Shade looked at him.

"& I said to prove it." Shade said. "Prove you want me more as a friend than as a slave, & MAYBE I will believe you."

"Yes, Shade." Kenny said. "I will." Dr. Opelle looked at his son.

"Are you sure you can handle it, Kenny?" He asked. "From what I understand, humans haven't been nice to him when he was still a bat."

"Don't worry, dad." Kenny said. "I'll try & show him how good humans can really be."

"Well, good luck, Kenny." Dr. Opelle said. "I doubt it'll be easy, though."

"Well, I CAN try." Kenny said. "Now I gotta eat."

"Yes, agreed." Dr. Opelle said, the family then proceeded to eat breakfast. Shade just sat in the P.E.T., knowing that the family was eating. Shade didn't think it was fair. Because of what Dr. Opelle did, he'd never get to eat again. He'd never eat another Tiger Moth as long as he was a net navi. He really wanted to eat food, but he didn't feel hungry. He figured net navis never get hungry, ever, meaning they didn't have to eat, so Shade would have to say goodbye to the Tiger Moths he enjoyed eating so much. A tear fell from his eye at the thought of this reality as the Opelles ate their breakfast.


End file.
